


The Garrison

by nevercallmeangel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, I promise, M/M, because why not, cute lil cafe au, the empty is banned and no one dies, this is just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28503900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevercallmeangel/pseuds/nevercallmeangel
Summary: Reviews for The GarrisonAnonymous: I go to the university nearby and initially only came by for early fix of coffee but ended up being too invested in the growing romance between two of the workers. Both a super blushy around the other and I need to know how this ends.K1ingofhell: Coffee is decent, but you know what’s not decent? How good looking one of the workers there is. Too bad he seems to only have eyes for one of the owners.Anonymous: Only came here because a friend was gushing about two of the workers there. And I can confirm a romance. One of them walked into a bin while watching the other.Moosewinchester: Everyone go here so you can make fun of my brother’s crush on his boss pleaseorDean is the new barista at The Garrison and can't make coffee to save his life. Trying to make some extra money for Sam and maybe get a little closer to his boss and coworker, Castiel. Cue some cute, awkward fumbling between the two and some lewd comments from Gabriel in the corner
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Garrison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first spn fanfic so ahhh, I hope it's okay and no one's too OC! I'm refusing to acknowledge what happened in the last couple episodes of season 15, in my mind the show ended as soon as Cas said 'I love you' and they went on to have a long, happy life. I could write essays on everything that was wrong with the finale tbh BUT ANYWAY, here is part 1 of The Garrison!!!

**Reviews for _The Garrison_**

Anonymous: I go to the university nearby and initially only came by for early fix of coffee but ended up being too invested in the growing romance between two of the workers. Both a super blushy around the other and I need to know how this ends.

K1ingofhell: Coffee is decent, but you know what’s not decent? How good looking one of the workers there is. Too bad he seems to only have eyes for one of the owners.

Anonymous: Only came here because a friend was gushing about two of the workers there. And I can confirm a romance. One of them walked into a bin while watching the other.

Moosewinchester: Everyone go here so you can make fun of my brother’s crush on his boss, please

* * *

“Cassie, I know you think he’s cute, but he is utterly useless”

Castiel looked up from the table he was cleaning to see his brother leaning across the cashier with an imploring look on his face. 

“I don’t think he’s cute Gabriel. I simply gave a job to someone who needed it,” sighed Castiel as he began collecting the cleaning supplies laid out across other tables and placed them in the correct container. It was one of the small changes the youngest Novak insisted on when he started working at the café full time, a system of organisation in order to maintain some level of orderliness behind the counter. If his older brother had his way, items would be left all over the place and they would be tripping on dirty rags by the end of the week.

“Oh, don’t give me that little brother, I saw you checking out his arse this morning but was it before or after he dropped a tray of drinks in the kitchen? I can’t quite remember,” Gabriel pretended to ponder for a second before a teasing expression crossed his face. “Can’t you ask him out like a normal person, and we can all move on before my café is accidentally burnt down?”

Castiel considered himself lucky that he was facing away from his brother as this exact moment as blood rushes to his face, giving him a pink glow on his cheeks. Silently willing the blush to die down, he turned towards his brother with a mock glare.

“Dean is not incompetent, and no one is asking out anyone so can we please move on and close shop before I turned 30?” Castiel huffed out

“I’m just saying, he can’t make coffee for shit and I’ve had to replace seven mugs since he arrived. Seven!” Gabriel exclaimed while systematically flicking off all the lights inside the café as it slowly fell into shadows. The only light being sourced externally from the street’s lights filtering in.

“He’s only been working here for two weeks, give him a chance to improve.” Implored Castiel before exiting the shop after his older brother as they closed the shutters and locked the entrance.

“Fine but I can’t believe I’m risking my café just so my little bro can get laid”

“GABRIEL”

* * *

The sound of the door being pushed open rapidly and the gasps of someone out of breath drew Castiel to look up from his order and see Dean quickly making his way towards the counter.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, we slept in and I had to drive my brother to school-” Dean rushed out, looking genuinely apologetic before Castiel interrupted him.

“It’s fine don’t worry but grab your apron and go. There’s a line already waiting”

Dean looked back to the line forming at the cashier where Gabriel was trying to fend off the mass of tired early morning college students and quickly made his way to the small room closed off to staff to grab his apron and dump his bag in a corner out of the way. While he would usually place his bag out of tripping range in the small cubby system for each employee, he was already 40 minutes late to his shift and didn’t want to push his luck any further. Tying the cords of his apron around his waist, he joined Gabriel, who gave him a disgruntled glare for being late, at the cashier and took over taking orders.

After numerous dropped drinks and badly made coffees on Dean’s part, it was decided by Gabriel that Dean would only be on cashier and clean up duty before he ‘accidentally killed someone with his undrinkable coffees’ as the oldest Novak commented.

The three soon fell into a rhythm behind the counter as they dealt with the onslaught of the early morning rush, stepping around one another with practised precision. Dean took orders from incoming customers, writing names on the cups and ticking the small boxes indicating their drink preferences while Castiel and Gabriel made each drink before calling out the name of the owner of said drink.

A small sound of cups cluttering to the ground brought Castiel’s attention from the hot chocolate he was finishing to Dean racing to pick up all the cups and restack them quickly. However, in his rush, a couple of cups escaped his grasp and made their way back down to the ground. The raven-haired Novak sighed but gave a small smile when he noticed that Dean had looked up with a panicked look on his face. Castiel simply picked up the lone cup which had rolled to his feet before handing it back to Dean with a smile before turning around to hand the hot beverage to its owner.

It wasn’t until the queue begin to thin out did a younger woman walked up to the counter, a sly smirk gracing her otherwise beautiful features, and instantly her hand went to play with her hair as she gave her order. Castiel might have thought the action was done absent-mindedly however her lip was caught between her teeth and she batted her eyelashes one too many times to not be considered subtle flirting. Dean must have also caught onto this as he gave a charming smile and winked at the girl after taking her name.

“I’ll be sure to call you later… Amber” Dean flirted with the woman as she made her way to the stools near the waiting area for her take away, crossing her legs and winking suggestively towards the dirty haired blond. Dean’s attention was directed towards the next customer but Castiel kept an eye on any subtle interactions between the two as he prepared the next order. The youngest Novak wasn’t oblivious to the attraction of females towards Dean, or sometimes the odd male flirt, however it didn’t mean each aimed wink Dean gave to another customer didn’t hurt any less.

“Stop with the pining looks bro, you can shoot your shot later,” Gabriel said as he reached over to grab another carton of milk from the mini-fridge under where Castiel was working.

“I’m not shooting anything towards Dean.”

“No, but I bet you would like to,” Gabriel replied with a small quirk of his eyebrow up and a wry grin on his face before stepping away to return back to the collection of orders waiting to be made. Castiel simply threw a dirty rag at his retreating figure and rolled his eyes to the sound of his brothers’ laughter.

Soon the crowds slowly began to disappear, with Amber leaving a napkin with what Castiel presumed to be her phone number on the counter, and the trio were able to breath. The mornings were always packed with customers due to their proximity to the local university campus and the growing need for caffeine to function among those cramming for exams. Castiel handed the hot take away cup to the last person waiting in line for their beverage and began to clean up the inevitable mess made in the early morning rush. It was just after 10am and he knew his older brother would be clocking out soon as there was typically a lull in customers during the day. He bent over to pick up a discarded disposable lid but abruptly popped up when a loud thud sounded out across the semi-vacant café.

Dean had accidentally walked into the rubbish bin placed conveniently near the entrance and the contents of said was currently spilt across the floor.

“I’ll clean that right up um I-uh,” he continued to mutter to himself as he bent down to clean up the mess and straightened the bin, missing the look of amusement on Gabriel’s face

“How does someone as smooth as you Winchester, picking up chicks left, right and centre fall over a rubbish bin?” The eldest Novak joked from behind the counter as he collected the tips from the morning and locking them away in the small safe kept for the loose change dropped into the small jar. At the end of the week, they would divvy up the money and leftovers would go towards new fixtures for the interior of the café.

“Shut up.” Dean shot back at him, lifting back up from his crouch position on the ground and moved towards the back room to dispose of the rubbish.

“Like I said, useless,” Gabriel stated to his younger brother with a small smirk as he watched Dean’s retreating figure go into the other room, lugging the black bag of rubbish with him. “But he was totally staring at your arse, you know, that right?”

“He isn’t and he wasn’t, so please focus on your business and not the eye-line of one of your employees Gabriel,” huffed Castiel, despite the small bloom of pinks on his cheeks at the thought of Dean fumbling because of him.

“Is that a blush I see on you little bro? Oh, it totally is. You _likeeeee_ him,” teased the oldest Novak, as he drew out the last sentence while moving around the counter with a teasing smirk. “I bet it’s those green eyes, right? Do those apple green eyes make you weak the knees? Do you want to kiss him?” He continued teasingly before making kissy noises in the air while Castiel simply raised a single finger up at him in response

“Who does Cas want to kiss?” Interrupted a confused voice and Castiel whipped around to see Dean drying his hands off with a damp rag, all while Gabriel faded out his kissy noises and a mischievous smirk broke out on his face. Castiel jumped to answer before his brother could embarrass him further.

“I uh, want to kiss caffeine. Because, ah, I wouldn’t have a job or graduated for that matter. I have so much to be thankful and caffeine is one of those things.” Tumbled out of Castiel’s mouth quickly before his brain could catch up as he tried to move away from the subject of kissing anybody. “Did you know recent studies suggest that caffeine may protect you from dementia? I mean everyone should be kissing caffeine-” Castiel stopped himself short before he made the situation worse for himself and growing blush on his cheeks. Dean gave him an odd look, head tilted, and his eyes narrowed in confusion, before replying.

“Hey, no arguments here, caffeine is definitely a lifesaver,” he replied with his hands up in the air in a slightly defensive manner, eyebrows raised at the youngest Novak and walked behind the counter to grab the plastic tub containing the basic cleaning supplies for the tables scattered across the café. His eyes moved across the café, taking stock of what needed to be cleaned before his eyes dropped down to the napkin tucked under the edge of the tip jar with his name pecking out from underneath.

Dean swiped the napkin imprinted with ink, forming the numbers to an easy hook-up, gave a small scoff and promptly dropped the piece of paper into the bin underneath the counter.

“Hey Dean-o, you didn’t want to share that little gem with the rest of us? If you are not going to call her, least give the rest of us a chance.” Gabriel teased once he saw what Dean had done

“Not really interested in anything like that at the moment,” Dean admitted, unknowingly piercing a small hole into Castiel’s heart at the thought. While he had no intention of acting on his feelings any time soon, the fact that his chances had diminished even more created an invisible weight on his shoulders.

_Why would Dean want to date me if he doesn’t even want her?_

The trio resumed their clean up of the mornings rush with a silence falling over them, the only sounds within the café coming from the lone student in the corner tapping away on their laptop, headphones firmly placed over their ears.

* * *

It was a typical Tuesday night closing. Herding the last of the students out at 6:30 pm into the cooling air, scrubbing down the mysterious brown strains that found themselves on random surfaces and avoiding getting caught staring at the other from the other side of the café.

The two of them wiped down the counter together, it was really a one-man job, but it gave them a perfect excuse to stand close to one another.

Dean would eat his left foot before he admitted it aloud, but the slight elbow brushes and small smiles directed only towards one another as quiet music played from the banged-up radio behind the counter made the day all worth it. The grumpy customers or hot coffee spilt down his front; he would take an eternity of that if it meant he could keep earning those precious smiles Cas would give him. He craved any kind of touch from Cas and his heart sung whenever they stepped close enough to brush up against one another.

He treasured the quiet moments after closing where they could interact with one another in their own little bubble. They didn’t have to deal with Gabriel’s comments or constant customers demanding their attention to be averted from the other.

It reminded Dean of shy teenagers learning to interact with their crush. They danced around the line of being something more. And Dean found he was both comforted by that boundary as well as wishing he could simply tear down that invisible wall the gather Cas into his arms and never let go.

Dean pulled the small shutters down the front windows as the sounds of Castiel’s emptying the till and locking away the profits of the day and he turned to the raven-haired man with an easy smile.

“Ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

“But, Dean… we don’t sell popsicles nor do we work at a stand-” came Castiel’s confused response, his head tilted slightly to the left and a small squint in his eyes as he pondered on the relevance of the phrase.

“Jesus Cas, we have to work on your idiom knowledge.” Huffed Dean with a small laugh in his tone, shoving his hands into his pockets and ducking his head. Shaking his head at his friend’s oblivious nature to modern phrases, he turned to go into the small room around the back of the café.

Grabbing the bag, he had left in a heap on the floor earlier that morning, careful to hide the books inside lest Castiel saw them and enquired about the nature of them. Dean made his way out of the door as the raven-haired male locked the door behind him.

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Dean asked pointlessly, knowing full well that he was rostered to work the following morning. Cas seemed to take a moment before turning to face the blond man, a small smile playing on his face. Seemingly understanding the need to say something however scared to push too far.

The unspoken words of enjoying each other’s company seemed to shift between the two before Castiel took it upon himself to break the weighted stares.

“I’ll be waiting here for you tomorrow morning like always Dean. Enjoy your evening.” He stated before swiftly moving away from the man that held his heart and leaving him to stand alone at the closed door of the café.

Dean watched Cas walk away, a slight twitch of a smile on his face before walking away to his own car. Only the wind to keep him company in the absence of his friend.

* * *

The purr of the impala bounced off the silent street and Dean quickly killed the engine before he accidentally woke someone up with the sound. His eyes caught sight of the time on his watch and swore, it was later than he had hoped to be home and only hoped that his brother was able to find something to heat up for dinner. His hand reached to his right to grab the book laden bag, barely blinking at the weight of the textbook inside and stepped outside of the vehicle.

Dean shrugged off his worn leather jacket as he stepped inside the house, noticing the darkness that seemed to stretch out further than just the entryway of his home but to every room. His hand moved to flick on the light switch nearby on the wall but after a couple of clicks, his confusion melted into frustration. He hung his head in resignation and let out a long gush of breath. He had forgotten about the power bill which was due the week before and Dean was now paying the price for it.

“Sammy?” the eldest Winchester brother called out as he stepped through the house, noticing the thick feeling of unmoved heat. Dean moved over the entry of his brother’s room and was greeted with the sight of Sam lying on top of the sheets, with a thin layer of sweat on his skin. He cursed quietly under his breath before stepping out to find the small battery-operated fan he had set up in his own room.

Moving slowly around the house, careful not to wake the youngest Winchester, Dean searched the kitchen drawers for spare batteries and quietly assembled the fan in the entrance of his brother’s room. Flicking the switch, the fan began to gradually rotate and move the hot air around the room, giving small relief to Sam while he slept.

He toed off his lace-up boots as he walked into his own room and pulled off his outer layer of flannel before falling into his bed. The old mattress creaking under his weight. The eldest Winchester did a small wriggle to gain freedom from his sweat-soaked jeans and resigned himself to a night of restless sleep.

The night dragged on without any respite from the heat and Dean had yet to fall asleep. Thoughts of make ends meet and trying to create some semblance of normality for his little brother. Their father had disappeared yet again and had barely left a couple of dollars on the counter in his absence.

It wasn’t because his mind was filled with the youngest Novak, not at all.

_Damnit Winchester_

* * *

It was a couple of days later when the youngest Novak approached the table where Dean was seated, books laid out in front of him and a small cup of coffee steaming beside a half-filled page of a notebook. Castiel placed the small plate, on the table and Dean’s eyes moved from the words of the textbook to the muffin plated in front of him with a small smile.

“Thanks, Cas,” Dean said looking up at the man in question before gesturing to the seat next to him. He began to break the muffin in half as Castiel sat down opposite him and offered the slightly larger half to him.

“How are you, Dean?”

“I’m fine,” Dean replied with a small shake of his head and a tone of dismissal. Castiel tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in disbelief of his answer, “I’m great” amended flannel-clad man.

“No, you’re not,” Castiel responded with a gentle look in his eyes. Dean searched his eyes for a moment at his reply before looking back down at his muffin. He seemed to bite down on the inside of his mouth as he thought.

“Would I- uh, could I pick up another shift this week?” Dean stated quickly, looking up briefly at Castiel before dropping his gaze back down to his notebook, playing with the pen in his left hand. “I know I’m not the greatest with the coffee machine, but I was hoping I could take some of the late-night shifts,” he further said as if that explained his initial request.

“Ah, of course, Dean, if you are amendable, I can talk to Gabe about you doing the late-night shift on Friday nights?” Cas suggested with a kind tone, before slightly shifting in his seat, unsure on whether he should press for more information. “May I ask why you have a sudden urge to deliver caffeine to students at 11 pm at night?”

“I just need some extra money to pay some bills you know?” Dean responded with a nonchalant shrug, however, his eyes suggested that he cared more than he was letting on. That the weight of caring for his younger brother was heavier than he wanted to admit.

Castiel searched for something, anything at all, to fill the awkward silence that filled the two afterwards. His eyes caught sight of the social sciences textbook on the table and his mouth apparently worked faster than his mouth.

“What are you studying?” He innocently asked before fully thinking through his question and Dean’s face flushed a bright red with embarrassment

“Um, it’s for my GED. I have my exam in a couple of months,” his hand found its way to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously as he willed the flush to leave his cheeks. “With Sammy and everything, I just uh, didn’t get a chance to finish school and now that he is nearly finished, I thought it was time to, yeah-” his sentence trailed off as he ducked his head.

_Good job Novak, just when you thought you couldn’t make it any more awkward_

“Anyway, I should probably stop yapping and let you get back to your actual job.” Dean continued after a beat of self-conscious silence between the two and Cas had to bite back his disappointment at the thought of leaving the green-eyed man’s side.

“Ah, right of course… I’ll just, leave you to it?” the raven-haired man scurried away before Dean could say anything else and retreated to the safety of behind the café counter, finding some fake job to occupy himself with.

Dean could have sworn he saw a flash of something in Cas’ eyes when he tried to give him a subtle out to the conversation. A small part of him wished for the emotion behind the blue eyes to be one of longing. His stomach jumped at the thought of Cas being disappointed at the conversation ending.

 _Could have just been gratefulness for the escape, doesn’t mean anything, you idiot_.

Dean swallowed heavily at the thought before determinedly looking down at his textbook beneath his nose. Deliberately avoiding a certain someone’s eyes.

* * *

“You know you could just be a normal person and ask him outright?” Suggested the slightly bemused voice from across Dean and the green-eyed man looked up from his burger to the younger man opposite.

“Not this again dude. I just wanted one meal in peace without you meddling in my love life.” Dropping his burger in a dramatic motion before heaving his upper body over the booth, mindful of the food below his chest and stared at his brother with a pointed stare.

“Well maybe if you had a love life to actually speak of maybe I wouldn’t bring it up so often.” Sam teased back, following Dean’s motion and leaning over the table of the booth.

Dean leaned back and with an easy smirk plastered on his face, “How’s Jess then? Still way out of your league?”

“She’s great, she’s also applying to Stanford so we’re hoping to go together. Now, why are you avoiding the topic.” Sam responded, slipping into his interrogation mood, with a raised eyebrow at his brothers’ antics.

“I’m not avoiding the topic because there is no topic to talk about. Cas is Cas.”

“Dude come on; you’ve been mooning over this guy for what… three months? That’s basically marriage in your eyes. Just ask him out and move on!” The younger Winchester retorted, throwing his arms up slightly in frustration.

“Come on Sammy, let’s be real for one second. What kind of guy like him would want to date a guy like me?” Dean replied with a huff, setting down his burger and staring intently at his brother, “I live in a falling-down house, I listen to the same five albums on repeat not to mention a high school dropout. Not exactly someone to write home about.”

“How can you care so little about yourself?” Asked the younger brother, shoulders sagging.

“It comes quite naturally I assure you,” Dean flippantly remarked while swiping the last of the chips left on Sam’s plate before continuing, “Look, I don’t even know if the dude feels that way about anyone, he never seemed interested when people flirt with him at the counter. He might be aro or ace for all I know.”

“Well you’ll never know if you keep your head up your a-“

A small ding sounded out from Dean’s leather jacket which had been absentmindedly placed to his left when he had sat in the booth and Sam cut himself off with a knowing stare.

 **Castiel:** Would you be amenable to meeting me earlier at work before your shift on Tuesday?

Dean looked up his brother, who was just giving him bitch face #34, before glancing back down at the screen in front of him.

 **Dean:** How early r we talking here?

 **Castiel:** I was hoping to meet you there for 6 am

_He’s lucky I like him. Man’s gotta have his four hours._

**Dean:** If there’s coffee involved in it 4 me, u got urself a deal

“Seriously?” Came the exasperated huff and Dean looked up for the second time, however this time there was a small smile playing on his face.

“It’s work-related bitch.”

“No one smiles that much at the mention of work jerk.”

“Shut up.”

* * *

Dean waited outside the entrance to the café under the shelter of the overheard as it poured down with rain.

“Unusual weather for June, right?” A voice came from behind him, causing Dean to jump slightly in his spot before turning around to see a shy Castiel standing there with two refusable coffee mugs in his hands.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you but speaking about the weather seems to be a socially acceptable conversation starter,” started Cas before stopping himself with a sharp intake of breath. “Ready to go?” He questioned with a slight tilt of his head towards _The Garrison_ before stepping forward to unlock the front doors.

“Mind telling me why you asked me to come in 2 hours before opening time. Man’s gotta sleep Cas” teased Dean as he followed Castiel through the door and closing the glass door, leaving the wet weather behind him. He absentmindedly took a sip of the coffee offered to him, a silent reminder of their conversation the week before.

Castiel moved to the set of switches behind the counter, flicking each one and the café was flooded with light. And Dean was once again flooded with how homey the space was, despite its smaller size. The walls were painted in a pale, cheery yellow colour and hand-written chalkboards lined the back wall with pricings of each beverage served. There was a refurbished bookcase next to the counter which held small jars of honey to be sold, originating from a local bee farm which Castiel insisted they support in their endeavours of conservation. The sides of the café were lined with wooden tables and a collection of mismatching chairs which the Novak brothers had brought in an auction a few years back and never had the heart to replace. Another refurbished bookcase sat in the corner, surrounded by old leather couches and held a small collection of second-hand books that people could read or swap with a book of their own.

It wasn’t a lot, but the small café had become his second home in the span of a couple of months.

 _Or maybe a particular person made it home,_ a treacherous voice inside his head commented and Dean had to bite back a smile at the thought of the blue-eyed man that was currently standing in front of him with a large box in his arms.

“Need a hand with that buddy?” Dean asked while stepping forward with his arms out to take the heavy looking box from Castiel, but the youngest Novak placed the box on the counter beside him with a thud.

“I’m okay Dean but I’ll require your assistance with the contents of the box, however,” stated Castiel before he began pulling the items of the box and laying them out on the counter.

Dean stepped forward towards the counter and gingerly picked up what seemed to be a rolled flag. He picked at the end and began to the unravel the piece of fabric before it revealed its nature. It was a rainbow pride flag.

“We hang this up on the window near the door each year and I was hoping you could help me as you are a few inches taller than me.” Castiel’s voice broke Dean’s train of thought and the flannel-clad man looked over to see Cas biting his lip slightly. He realised that his lack of response was causing his friend to become nervous and quickly gave a smile directed towards Castiel.

“Yeah, uh, of course, man,” Dean replied, stepping away from the counter. “This is for pride month, right?” He further questioned as he moved towards the window Castiel had pointed out earlier to find two small hooks on the top side of the pane, already in place to hang the flag.

“Yes, Gabriel was quite insistent on putting it up each year after I ‘came out’ and enjoys sending any male customers my way during this month. But he was unable to put it up himself this year.”

Castiel explained, using finger quotes around ‘came out’ which caused a small breath of laughter from Dean before his brain registered what was being said, “He says it’s to ward off any ‘great big bags of homophobic dicks’” Castiel wryly continued, once again holding his hands up to make finger quotes and if Dean’s brain had pressed pause on itself moments before he would have been struck not for the first time how lovingly dorky his boss was.

“So uh, are you-? Dean trailed off nervously, his hand reached up to rub the back of his neck, his mind screaming out him to be more coherent but all that came out were flustered words. Castiel raised an eyebrow at the action and gave a slight smile.

“I’m gay Dean,” he put bluntly before moving back towards the box to pull out smaller flags attached to little plastic poles.

Dean tried to calm his racing heart as he processes what had been said while his brain cried at him to respond in any sort of manner to not make the situation awkward.

“Yeah, I get that whole brother thing, when I told Sammy I was bi, he barely blinked but instead told me that he had been waiting for this moment. Apparently, my crush on Dr Sexy was not as subtle as I had hoped.” Dean rambled to no one in particular as he stepped away from the window after pinning up the large flag. “But gay? That’s cool, that’s cool.” He muttered to himself as his imagination went crazy.

“My parents were less than impressed as you could probably imagine. Told me I had a crack in my chest, and I had been corrupted. Probably went straight to church and begged to know where they went wrong.” Cas rolled his eyes at the remembrance, shoving down the inner surge of hurt at the words. Even years later, his family’s words still create a dull urge in his chest.

“Yeah well, your parents are dicks,” Dean grunted as he lifted above his head to hang the banner and stepped down the small step ladder placed at the windows edge before turning around to face his friend, “I’m sorry, I know they’re family but family cares about you, not what you can do for them or whether you fit into their grand plan. Took me a long time to learn that after my dad left but you aren’t broken in any way.”

Castiel didn’t say anything in response but the warm, grateful look on his face spoke volumes. Dean continued to hold his eye until the urge to rush towards the other man and kiss away any familial troubles became too strong and he had to avert his eyes.

“Anything else that needs to be done?” He gruffed out, avoiding the eye line of Castiel, lest he sees the flush on his cheeks or the raw emotions set in his eyes.

Castiel directed him towards another box tucked behind the counter and Dean began setting up an array of pride-themed signs and decorations.

The two fell into a natural lull of conversation and simply worked in sync around one another, with only the small radio sat behind the counter playing old rock music softly to fill the silence.

“How is studying for your GED going?” Castiel asked, out of the blue, filled with the need to speak. To fill the quiet which had grown between the two as they worked. To hear the other man, speak. And then immediately smacking his head against a thick internal wall in his mind, only just then remembering how embarrassed Dean had been regarding the set of exams.

_Your social skills are more than a little rusty_

Dean, seemingly unaware of his plight, responded easily, “It’s going as well as can be expected for someone who dropped out of school five years ago,” giving himself a self-deprecating laugh at the end before continuing, “I’ve lost some of my notes at the library somewhere and I’m finding memorising everything kinda hard. Back at high school I just kinda just winged everything but I don’t want to let Sam down. He was so excited when I said I was studying for my GED.”

Surprised by his own moment of vulnerability, Dean risked peeking out from under his eyelashes towards the shorter male who stood near the counter, simply staring at him with an encouraging look on his face.

Green met blue and everything surrounded hazed out of focus. The sounds of other shop owners opening up their stores for the morning and people milling out on the streets were lost to the two men.

Their stares conveyed everything and nothing at all. Unspoken confessions and feelings.

_You changed me_

_I need you_

_I love you_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intend for this to have two parts but I can't promise when the second part will be up sorry!! Writing inspiration is very sporadic and while I've got a rough outline of the next chapter, it's kinda hazy. So please comment down below if you want to see anything in particular and hopefully I can try and add it in!


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